AAAU To Leverage On MOUs, Receives NUC Preliminary Report
The Registrar of African Aviation & Aerospace University (AAAU), Dr. Mustapha Sheikh Abdullahi says the institution is almost done with phase movement to its permanent site and intends to in future, leverage on Memorandum of Understandings (MOUs) it is signing with several international institutions.
“We are going to first occupy the school of post graduate studies which has about 23 offices and suites. Currently, they are doing the electric fittings and painting is completed. So, we should be in the permanent site before the end of December,” he said.
He said the institution has enjoyed the support of other aviation agencies in Nigeria and “they are really supporting and mentoring us because we are really currently tapping from their repository to advance what we have here. We have documented MoUs. Our first MoU was with NiMET where there are students available within the agency. We also have MoU with NSIB. As you can see, this is our temporary site. We are sitting here free of charge. You know, this facility has a hosted facility for over 80 students and we have classrooms here. Our offices are still here, within this building. So, as you can see, we are very comfortable under the hospitality of NSIB, and we are staying free of charge. You know, just the power of MOU and the ministerial directive. We also have an MOU with NCAT, the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology and quite other agencies, quite other stakeholders within Nigeria and also beyond.
Internationally, Aviation is international. That’s why we are very, very passionate about international collaboration. That’s why we keep knocking on doors to ensure that we are heard of, we are known about. We will ensure that we kick-start with potentially vibrant collaborations. The first of its kind that we did was with our MOU with the French Civil Aviation University in Toulouse, France. We have an MOU, a very active MOU with Gulf Aviation Academy in Bahrain. We have one other aviation training site, which is like ATOM in Dubai. We are perfecting our documents for MBUD, the famous university for aviation in Florida, Daytona, Florida.
We have also the Montfort University in London, in Alaska, Coventry University
and Canfield University, one in England. So these are things that we’ve been able to do, to achieve, under just three years of our existence. These collaborations are very active, including that with the University College of Aviation in Malaysia; and for now, we are perfecting both with RMIT, a famous university for aviation in Australia, Adelaide University of Adelaide, and also Swinburne University, all in Australia,” he explained.
Abdullahi said “we just now received the report of our accreditation as a preliminary report and we did excellently well from the accreditation team from the National Universities Commission (NUC). The formal report should be out in the next couple of weeks and from the preliminary report, we’ve crossed all the tough hurdles but of course, there are some challenges here and there but some of them are beyond our own capacity. We certainly believe the future is very bright and that the university will be a university to beat globally not only in Nigeria. We are actively working towards that. The future is bright,” he said, adding that the university is also actively on the trajectory to grow and even surpass renowned global institutions.
He said his team has “been able to achieve all this because of the respect that we’ve been receiving from the Ministry and from other stakeholders by really believing in us and by respecting our autonomy, giving us a free hand to really implement the policies that are really for positive trend and also, the Governing Council of the University chaired by Alhaji Bukar Gumi Tofa will give us extreme support. So, it is on that note that I believe that the future is bright and if we have a very long period, you know, this kind of freedom that we have that does this kind of autonomy without serious interference, I believe the sky will be our starting point because.”
Talking about pioneer contributions, he said: “What we did, especially the pioneer set of staff of this university is that we took ownership of the institution. We aligned it with our names. We gave out our necks which means if it fails, we are also failures. So, we give it our best. We came out all in all force and for the staff, for more than five months, there was no salary. Why was there no salary? Because there was no structure. Nobody knew what to even pay us, you know. So, we kept on moving. There were no offices. There was nothing. The government only had the audacious plan to have a pan-African aviation institution. That is it. So I think we’re just beginning and more people are still doubting but as of today, by the grace of God, we have 300 level students. That means we have 100 level. We have 200 level. We have 300 level students. So, in the next 15 months, we should talk about our graduation. We should talk about students that have passed through this institution, going for NYSC, going further for their masters, for our masters programmes, Yes.”
“On the 21st of July, 2024, the Honourable Minister and his team were at the permanent site that was secured under the leadership. Through the leadership of the Honourable Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, a 200 hectare land funding was secured for building of the premier buildings. TELFUND was also in the picture to strongly support what the ministry is already doing. So, on 24th of July that was when the groundbreaking was done but because of technicalities of paperwork with the landowners, back and forth, construction didn’t actually begin till November till 2024. As of today, being October 22, 2025, we are still less than a year but I wish you can have a moment to go to that permanent site.
We have over seven structures already that today, you can sleep in them. You can sleep in over seven structures that are virtually completed. That’s why we’re already at the verge of trying to move away from this temporary site back to the permanent site where the two kilometer internal route is almost completed the power lines for electrification are almost completed,” he explained, adding that a project that ought to take between 18 and 20 months to complete is almost completed in less than 12 months.
Abdullahi identified manpower as a challenge for the university. “I see it as a challenge that might be ongoing for the next ten years because the university itself was established to address this. If you really don’t have the manpower and the resources available, then the university has no essence. So, we are actually training the next generation of managers within this industry, the next generation of resources within this industry. But the good thing is, the university is not only for Nigerians. It’s a pan-African university but look at the Nigerian context. There is no profession in the world that you will not have a Nigerian there. Why am I saying this? The issue of knowledge, communication, people to know about the existence of this university. We will come back to give them its best. Let me give you a very good example. One of the best hands we have in aviation management, as a programme in the world, is currently in Australia. She’s a Nigerian. I can’t really remember her full name, but I think Ms. Nnenna or something like that. It was through our social media interaction with her, that she was able to know the institution, and she shared her resume.
It is so fascinating. And we are doing all we can now to engage her, even while she’s there in Australia. She should be an external resource person for us because currently, for example, our postgraduate programmes, quite a substantial amount of our members, our resource persons, are foreign-based. Because we are in 2025, ICT has really advanced. Also, they are teaching from the comfort of their country, over there in Australia, Asia and America. So we believe with the training that we are doing now, for the next 10 years, I see this university more as a centre that is training the trainers.
I see us more of training the people that will come over and really take the crux of this industry, to take the position on what is actually needed for the advancement of aviation academics. So that is, I think, one of the greatest challenges. It is a challenge, but the university has been established to address this challenge; and I don’t see it ending as soon as yesterday. I see it being treated in the next couple of years. This is a very big call for industry players, for key stakeholders that are knowledgeable about this industry. They are hidden somewhere. They should please come out of their shelves. Come and join hands with us. We are still very young.”
